Author's Note: Ib and its characters belong to kouri. I own nothing but this fanfic. I would like to apologize in advance for any mistakes regarding the names of Guertena's pieces; I'm simply recalling the names. I would also like to apologize for any mistakes in grammar and/or spelling.
This story contains: original characters, swearing and slight slash.
Ch: 1
New Game
"Why are we here again?"
Light blue eyes narrowed at the painting - "A Well-Meaning Hell".
The painting was, strange, to say the least. Actually, the exhibit was a whole new world of weird. Many have told the headmistress' son that he had strange taste, and this Guertena had strange tastes as well, so people (i.e., his idiot of a mother) had thought that he would actually enjoy this trip. But then, Elias wasn't really a boy of culture; the paintings were too "deep" for him to comprehend.
The black-haired boy had no intention of comprehending Guertena's works though. Not unless there was any fun in doing so; intellectual pursuits weren't his idea of fun.
"Because your mother finally got someplace decent for the school to have a field trip."
Dark green eyes glared down at the shorter student, with Elias giving a half-hearted shrug.
"I thought the trip last year was fun though."
"The school literally broke into someone's property and proceeded to explore a decrepit mansion that would've probably collapsed at the slightest touch."
"But it didn't."
"I'm sure it was illegal."
"Ah! We didn't get caught though, so no worries."
"Idiot," Kendrick rolled his eyes before looking back at the painting. The brown-haired boy continued scrutinizing the painting. Guertena was a genius, and Kendrick wished he was had a chance to meet the man.
"Hey, let's look at that one instead," Elias proclaimed in the midst of Kendrick's deep thinking. The shorter boy then began to drag his friend towards another display. A large painting on the floor called "Abyss of the Deep".
"It looks freaky, doesn't it? It'd be awesome if the fish just suddenly jumped out," Elias exclaimed, ignoring the reprimanding glares from the other visitors.
"Keep your voice down, moron," Kendrick pulled his friend's head down, pressing his index finger against the boy's lips. He didn't notice how his friend flushed slightly at the contact before nodding. The taller boy sighed before letting go of his friend and turning his attention back to the display.
"But, I guess it would be interesting if it did get out of the painting," Kendrick added as an afterthought, chuckling to himself as he saw his friend nod eagerly.
"I heard there were more upstairs, want to look?" Elias nodded again, following his classmate upstairs to the second floor, crossing his fingers and hoping for more interesting displays like "Abyss of the Deep".
Once they made their way to the second floor, the shorter boy's attention was attracted by three headless mannequins.
"It's called.. "Death of the Individual". "
"Looks creepy," Kendrick nodded in agreement before examining the mannequins closer. Each mannequin wore the same dress, with each dress being of a different color - red, blue and yellow. Before he could analyze the piece further, Elias dragged him away towards the other displays.
"Worry"
"I don't get it, it's just an eye on a red background."
"It's an artist-thing, so of course you wouldn't understand."
"I doubt you understand it either!"
"Lady in Red"
"She looks nice."
"I don't know, I kind of think she looks creepy."
"Taste-Cleaning Tree"
"It looks edible"
"Even if it were, I doubt people would be allowed to eat a deceased man's works."
"Fusion"
"Ha-ha, now this piece is awesome!"
"I figured you would like the stranger works."
"What does that mean?"
"Fabricated World"
"This is one huge painting, I mean - it takes up almost the entire hall!" Elias yelled in awe, shrinking down a bit when he saw Kendrick's reprimanding glare.
"This is a museum, so you should keep quiet," Kendrick chided his friend, with Elias nodding weakly in defeat.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry."
"Good, now let's get back down before the rest of the class leaves," Kendrick sighed before grabbing Elias' arm.
As they were about to walk away, the lights started to flicker on and off. The two students froze until the lights finally started working again.
"That was weird," Elias mumbled offhandedly as they made their way downstairs.
"Did the entire gallery just bail on us?" Elias wondered aloud as the two finally made their way into the now-deserted first floor.
"Probably," Kendrick sighed before leading his friend back to the lobby. All of the lights had went out once they made it into the lobby.
"Maybe they just decided to close down early," the brown-haired boy said before reaching for the entrance's handle to leave the museum. He continued twisting the knob, starting to get aggravated as it wouldn't budge. 'Idiot! It's locked from outside,' he thought before giving the door a kick.
"Maybe we can try the windows?" Elias suggested, walking over to one of the windows by the counters. He tapped the glass, hoping to catch the attention of anyone outside. To his surprise, a red liquid started seeping from the top of the window.
"Dude, what the hell?" Elias shouted, scrambling backwards until he hit the opposite wall.
"I honestly don't want to know. Come on, let's look for a fire exit or something," Kendrick helped Elias up before dragging his friend back up to the second floor.
A shadow moved past the window, catching Kendrick's attention. He let go of Elias' hand and backtracked to check if anyone was there. Pressing his face against the glass, and catching sight of no one, the boy sighed before walking back to his now even more confused friend.
"What was that ab-" The sound of someone banging against the glass interrupted the shorter boy's sentence. Both students looked at each other before walking back towards the window only to spot a fresh hand print on the glass.
"Wait... aren't we on the second floor...?"
"Never mind that, let's keep moving!" Kendrick took firm hold of Elias' hand again and the two continued walking around.
After a few minutes, the sound of something splattering on the ground caught their attention. The two boys looked back to see a piece of squashed fruit in front of a painting - "Bitter Fruit".
"This is getting creepy," the brunet mumbled to himself before tugging at his friend's arm again and dragging him forward.
This time, the sound of a feline's meow broke the eerie silence. Elias looked back to see another painting, one of a cat - "Your Dark Figure".
"Are the paintings..."
"Don't finish that line of thought. We are not in some creepy horror movie," Kendrick yelled, not noticing how Elias shrank back at his raised tone of voice. He also missed the hushed sorry that passed by the boy's lips.
"Something's leaking from it," Elias pointed out as the two passed by the "Fabricated World" painting again. The boys approached the blue liquid dripping from the painting, Kendrick reaching out to touch the strange liquid.
"Paint?" Kendrick raised his eyebrow at this. Why would fresh paint be leaking out of such an old painting? Before he could ponder any further, his friend's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Uh.. Ken, come look at this," Elias tugged at his arm; Kendrick turned his attention to where Elias was pointing.
In bright red, several letters were stamped on the floor.
"c o m e"
"This is getting disturbing. Let's just break a window and get out of here," Elias made a move to grab Kendrick's arm and drag him downstairs, but stopped as soon as he noticed the blue liquid start to move.
"El?" Said boy only pointed to the blue liquid. Kendrick turned his attention back to the liquid, squinting his eyes to make out the new writing.
"come down below, i'll show you guys a special place!"
"Should we?" Elias asked.
"Are you seriously considering listening to some creepy leakage?" Kendrick raised his brow and Elias only shrugged.
"It's worth a shot. And if nothing happens, we can always go with breaking a window," Elias answered, walking towards the stair, not giving Kendrick any chance to protest. He only sighed before following after the headmistress' son.
"So, where exactly is this special place?" Kendrick asked, rolling his eyes as he followed Elias; the shorter boy had been silent the entire walk, and honestly, it was unsettling. The whole situation was nerve-wracking in itself, but to have to normally cheerful boy this quiet only made it worse.
Kendrick was too deep in thought to notice that Elias had stopped, he bumped into the smaller boy.
"I'm guessing the special place is down there," Elias pointed at the now open display of "Abyss of the Deep". A trail of blue footsteps led down into the painting.
"Well then, time to jump in," Kendrick reached and grabbed Elias' arm, pulling him back before he made a step into the painting.
"Ken?" Elias looked up at his friend, confused. "I thought you wanted to get out?"
"I don't think this is a good idea."
"Me too."
"Then why jump in?"
"I don't think we have any other choice," and without warning, Elias jumped down the painting, pulling Kendrick with him.
To be continued.